Ties in Blood
by Our Lady Of Disparity
Summary: The story of a princess' struggle to liberate her country from an ambitious madman, and the tales of those who supported her. FE9; OC centric, for the most part
1. Prologue: All the King's Horses

**Castle Marado, 3 days before the invasion of Crimea**

Fiona peeked cautiously around the frame of the side door to her father's study, her blue eyes coming to rest on the two flame-red haired figures in the room. The one closest to her was a man; who paced the length of the room like a caged sub-human, ready to spring. Every so often his deep brown eyes would flit up to the ornate grandfather clock behind the desk, before returning to the floor in front of his feet. The other individual in the room was a tall female, bearing a patch over her right eye. Though the woman's posture, reclined against the desk as she was, seemed more at ease than her fellow; Fiona recognized the clear agitation visible in her single golden-amber eye. There were more signs of her unease too, a soft tapping of her right foot, the way her fingers fiddled with the end of the black coat worn under her armor, even a slight tenseness in her shoulders that gave her away to the young knight-in-training.

So caught up was she in observing the odd behavior of her father's two Captains, she had to muffle a squeak of surprise when Selwyn's deep baritone suddenly pierced the uneasy silence that seemed to have fallen over the castle. "Why's it taking so long? The General should have been back hours ago!" he asked of his companion. When her only reply was a non-committal shrug, he snapped at her "You act like it's of no goddamn concern to you that our king, our insane, bloodthirsty, psychopath of a king, suddenly _demands_ General Lanvega's presence."

Eliora sighed heavily before responding, her voice a deep and slightly rough alto, "Of course I'm concerned, the king's bound to be unhappy that the General refused to participate in the planned Crimean invasion. Let's just be realistic here, though, what did we think King Ashnard was going to do? You really think he'd just let such insolence go unpunished? There were bound to be some sort of repercussions for refusing the King's orders." Sh**e** paused a moment before continuing on, "Although, I have been wondering why we weren't called to the capital as well."

"That is exactly what worries me", Selwyn murmured; finally standing still with his eyes downcast "If he was going to mete out punishment for disobeying him, shouldn't we, as the General's seconds-in-command, been called as well?" He appeared to consider it for a moment "It just seems too suspicious that he specifically instructed him to come without an escort".

"It could just be out of courtesy," she offered, ignoring his snort of contempt as she clarified, "if he is planning on punishing a respected noble and military leader like General Lanvega, it would be in his best interests if he kept the humiliation to a minimum. He can't risk upsetting the military much more, especially after he disbanded the Great Riders _and _declared General Gawain a traitor right after taking the throne." Though the younger Captain's words seemed to ring with confidence, Fiona could still see the lingering doubt flit across her face. A moment later it was gone, replaced by a look of quiet determination as if she were willing her words to be true. For his part, Captain Selwyn was silently staring off into space, apparently considering her logic.

"For all our sakes, I hope you're right" his voice was reduced to nearly a whisper. "I don't even want to think about what would happen should any harm befall the General. Marado would be left in complete upheaval, not to mention the rest of the country. And there's little Lady Fiona too, she's always been close to her father, even before Lady Marlene died." Fiona barley registered the shudder that passed through his frame through the tears that had suddenly impeded her vision. She hurriedly clamped a hand over her mouth to suppress a whimper. The somber mood that had fallen was abruptly disrupted by a panicked rapping on the main door, causing the two in the room, as well as Fiona herself, to start sharply in response.

Eliora was the first to recover from the sudden shock calling out to whoever stood beyond "Who's there?" The muffled response that came through the thick oak doors was nearly impossible to decipher. "Speak up, I can't understand you!" she thundered in a voice clearly tempered by military use.

Fiona felt herself instinctively straightening in response as the, now clearer, reply came "A messenger, Ma'am, from the Capital."

The two Captains exchanged a look before she shouted "Enter!" The door creaked hesitantly open to reveal a young, jumpy looking blond boy with wide, bright grey eyes. He looked a little too scrawny to be a soldier, not to mention too young, though his frame showed promise of what he might grow into. His face was angular and his bangs hung in his eyes in apparent defiance of his attempts to brush them away. All things considered, if she'd stopped to consider it, she supposed he might have been handsome. As it was, she was too concerned by her father's absence to think of this newcomer as anything but a possible bearer of news on his fate.

"Well? What message do you bring?" Selwyn demanded of the boy, sharp eyes weighing the messenger's obvious unease.

The youth drew an envelope forth from a leather pouch on his hip, though she couldn't see it clearly from her hiding place, Fiona thought she recognized the royal seal stamped onto it. He held it out to them hesitantly "I was told to take this to Captain Eliora of Marado's Black Demon Cavalry with all haste. The sentries told me I could find you here, Ma'am." He glanced up from the envelope in his hand to the one-eyed Captain's face and back down again.

The two of them simply stared at him for a long moment before Selwyn asked him gently "And who was it who gave you this, son?"

He balked noticeably before answering the older male in a halting voice "Th-the king, sir." He gestured once again for Eliora to take the letter, wringing his hands before him when she finally did so. Another uneasy silence fell over the room as she broke the seal and read the message contained therein. Her single eye flashed across the parchment for what seemed like forever before she suddenly stiffened and stared, wide-eyed at the page.

Noting the sudden change, Selwyn jumped to her side "What, what's it say?" He demanded before beginning to hurriedly read over her shoulder. Her response was so faint that Fiona had to strain her ears to hear it:

"General Lanvega… is dead?"


	2. All the Queen's Men

**Secret Road, 2 days after the fall of Melior**

Fate had a funny way of screwing with people. A mere two days had seen everything normal in Ike's life turned on its head. Now all of a sudden, instead of hunting down bandits and chasing after lost cattle, he and the rest of the Greil Mercenaries found themselves on the run from Daein soldiers. Ever since he and several of the others had chanced upon Princess Elincia, secret daughter of the late king and now sole heir to Crimea's throne, the forces of Daein had been relentless in their pursuit.

His musing was cut abruptly short by his foot meeting sharply with a protruding tree root. All too late he threw his hands out to catch himself, trying in vain to keep his face from hitting the ground. His head smashed hard against what felt like a rock, leaving his vision swimming with bright spots and him lying stunned where he had fallen. Between the sudden pounding ache in his head, a dull throbbing in his arm, and what felt like a tree root jabbing into his ribs, not to mention the fact that neither Mist nor Boyd were likely to EVER let him hear the end of this, Ike found himself wondering if perhaps a more traveled road would have been a better idea. Even if it were crawling with Daein soldiers, at least those he knew how to deal with.

"Ike, get up!"

"Get away from her!" Shouts from voices he recognized as Mist and Titania pierced his already pained head, causing him to shudder slightly. It took a moment for their words to sink in. Her?

"Who's, "her"?" He mumbled groggily, struggling to push himself up. To his surprise, the ground below him suddenly began to shake softly and a soft chuckle issued from somewhere just above him.

"I believe they were referring to me, boy." He finally pushed himself up from the ground and found himself nose to nose with the owner of the voice, a one-eyed woman who was regarding him with an odd mix of irritation and vague amusement. "Cat got your tongue, boy?" She noted in a clipped tone.

"Ike, get away from her NOW!" Titania snarled. He spared a glance over his shoulder at his father's second-in-command. The flame-haired paladin was dismounted, but she held her weapon at the ready, as did the others behind her. Mist stood just behind her, a look of terror on her face. Oscar sat astride his mount, pointedly placing himself between the princess and Ike. Before he could ask what the hell was going on he suddenly felt himself yanked upward, his stomach lurching uncomfortably at the abrupt change and his vision once again overtaken by bright spots. All the discomfort seemed to pale in comparison, however, to the sobering feel of sharp steel pressing into his neck.

"Given that you seem so concerned for this boy's welfare, I would highly suggest you lower your weapons" the strange woman noted in a seemingly nonchalant tone.

Titania merely snarled in response "I don't think so, Daein scum!" Ike's vision cleared just enough for him to focus on the blade at his throat, his OWN blade, no less, and the arm attached to it, covered by black armor. He felt a bitter laugh threatening to bubble up from his chest as realization hit him. To not only run into an enemy soldier on this deserted, overgrown excuse for a road, but to literally land in said enemy's lap? If there really was a Goddess out there, she must particularly hate him.

The woman holding him hostage chuckled again "Daein? I'm no more a soldier of Daein than you are."

Titania snorted contemptuously at so obvious a lie "Certainly, and I'm really a laguz in disguise. Want to see my claws, Daein dog?" She sneered at his captor, raising her axe a fraction of an inch to emphasize her words.

"I WAS a soldier of Daein," she retorted "now I suppose I'm what you'd call a deserter. I have no interest in Ashnard and his idiotic power plays, so I left, simple as that".

"You truly expect me to believe that? What sort of fool do you take me for?"

It was the stranger's turn to snort in contempt "Whether you believe me or not is irrelevant, and frankly I have no interest whatsoever in your opinion. What you should be considering, however, is whether your little friend here can afford for us to continue this little spat of ours. He seems to have hit his head rather hard when he fell. I'm no healer, but I believe he needs a healer, and soon". Ike tried in vain to say something, anything to reassure his companions, but his tongue refused to move, sitting like lead in his dry mouth.

Titania's eyes flitted between his face and that of the woman before she replied slowly "So, what do you propose we do then?"

"Very simple, you take your friend and go. Leave me in peace and I will do the same for you." A tense silence fell as the two armed women stared each other down for a moment before Titania sighed in resignation.

"Lower your weapons, all of you!" she ordered as she did the same. She fixed his captor with a pointed glare "Now release him!" Ike staggered as the sword at his throat was suddenly withdrawn and he was shoved toward the others.

Titania darted forward to support him before he hit the ground. Rhys immediately dashed over with his heal stave, already beginning to mutter the incantation under his breath. Titania helped him sit upright as the healer tended to his head; the bright spots returning tenfold as the healing magic began to sink in. Before his vision was completely overtaken, his eyes fixed on the figure that had held him hostage. She still stood, apparently forgotten, at the edge of the clearing, though her single eye was not focused on him but something beyond. He tilted his head slightly to follow her line of sight, ignoring both the wave of nausea and the frantic scolding from Mist this brought about. She was staring directly at the princess. Unconsciousness crashed down on him before he could utter a warning.

**Crimean Farm Village, Later that night**

A shrill scream pierced the heavy darkness that had settled over the once-peaceful farm village. Behind a barn on the outskirts of the village were four figures. Three dressed in black armor stood like living shadows, the light from the torch one of them held casting flickering light across the scene. The fourth, a simply dressed farm girl was pinned against the wall of the barn by one of the others, struggling against the hand at her throat to find the breath to scream again. The man who held her put a finger to his lips "Hush now, my dear, wouldn't want someone to come looking now, would we?"

One of his fellows spoke up "Yes, just imagine if your papa were to come investigate. It'd be a shame for anything to happen to him, wouldn't it?" The grin he flashed her was nothing less than predatory. The fight drained almost immediately from the girl's eyes at his words, her form going limp in her captor's grip.

The soldier holding her grinned in triumph before tugging on the loose-fitting cotton shirt she wore. She bit back a sob as he violently tore it off her and cast it on the ground beside him. He was about to do the same with the thin band covering her breasts when the sound of hoofs striking the earth brought his attention, and that of his companions to the forest behind them. Keeping his left hand pressed against her throat as a warning, he hefted his steel lance before him in readiness. "Who's there?" He demanded "Show yourself!" An enormous, dark figure slowly emerged from the blackness of the forest, heading toward them. The three Daein soldiers relaxed immediately as the figure cleared the trees, a cloaked rider astride a bay warhorse, both adorned in Daein's black armor.

"What exactly are you doing?" the rider's voice, clearly female, albeit rather deep, questioned mildly.

The trio's leader grinned in response. "Just enjoying the spoils of war." He tugged his captive before him to emphasize his words. "You're welcome to join us, if you wish." He added, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

The newcomer gave a sharp bark of laughter at his words. "So, this is what Daein has become." she noted, voice tinged with bitterness. Her teeth showed in an odd cross between a snarl and a smile beneath the shadow cast by her hood. "Nothing more than animals…" she trailed off in a viper-worthy hiss.

"What was that?" the soldier holding the torch snarled, reaching for his sword as he advanced on the mounted woman. His sword never had the chance to clear its sheath, as a soft press of heels sent the warhorse springing forward to bury the razor-sharp horn on his head armor into the swordsman's neck. The soldier when down with a sickening gurgling sound, plunging the torch into the ground and sending them all into darkness. The next went down to a blade slicing cleanly through his gut just as he managed to place an arrow to his bowstring.

The last soldier cast aside the terrified farm girl with a snarl and leveled his lance against the figure before him. For the span of several breaths all was still before both combatants launched themselves at their enemy. The clash of steel against steel ripped through the night for several minutes before a victor emerged. With a last flash of the blade, the lanceman's head was sent toppling from his shoulders, face contorted into an expression of shock.

The horsewoman appeared to stare at the fallen soldiers, one by one, before turning her attention to their captive. The girl pressed herself against the side of the barn in terror as she stared at the black-clad figure. She couldn't see the other female's eyes beneath the hood she wore, but she could feel their piercing gaze on her. The bloodied blade in the rider's left hand seemed to glow in the light cast by the sliver of moon visible above them in stark contrast against the dark visages of both her and her steed. Slowly, deliberately, she wiped the blade on the hem of her cloak before returning it to its sheath.

Deciding that this strange person was most likely not going to kill her, the girl asked softly "W-what about me?"

The black rider looked back at her for a moment before answering. "Go" she ordered simply. The terrified girl needed no further encouragement before tearing off into the night toward home and safety.


End file.
